Vehicular manufacturers often test vehicles to ensure that the vehicle's pass a certain level of durability and quality over the designed life of the vehicle. Since the designed life of modern vehicles may exceed decades of time and high mileages, the testing is often accelerated and compressed to provide useful results in a shorter period of time. These tests may vary in elapsed time, distance traveled, and may be run on unique surfaces or at special venues. One way to test high mileage durability is to continuously drive a vehicle on a large oval at a proving grounds facility.
For testing timelines to remain on track, it is also important that the vehicle be in test-ready condition as much as possible. Previous vehicles that ran only on fuel could simply “gas and go” during the testing to remain on the track. Vehicles that have a motor require that a traction-battery be recharged before returning to the track. Recharging of a traction-battery may require a specified voltage and rate of recharge, and during this time the vehicle may not be in test-ready condition.